was announced; a stage in which the
structure and functions of the human body were worked out; a stage in
which the clinical and anatomical features of disease were determined;
a stage in which the causes of disorders were profitably studied, and
a final stage, into which we have just entered, the application of the
knowledge for their prevention. Science has completely changed man's
attitude towards disease.

Take a recent concrete illustration. A couple of years ago in
Philadelphia and in some other parts of the United States, a very
peculiar disease appeared, characterized by a rash upon the skin and
moderate fever, and a constitutional disturbance proportionate to the
extent and severity of the eruption. The malady first broke out in the
members of a crew of a private yacht; then in the crews of other boats,
and among persons living in the boarding-houses along the docks. It was
the cause of a great deal of suffering and disability.

There were three courses open: to accept the disease as a visitation
of God, a chastening affliction sent from above, and to call to aid the
spiritual arm of the church. Except the "Peculiar People" few now take
this view or adopt this practice. The Christian Scientist would probably
deny the existence of the rash and of the fever, refuse to recognize
the itching and get himself into harmony with the Infinite. Thirdly, the
method of experimental medicine.

First, the conditions were studied under which the individual cases
occurred. The only common factor seemed to be certain straw mattresses
manufactured by four different firms, all of which obtained the straw
from the same source.

The second point was to determine the relation of the straw to the rash.
One of the investigators exposed a bare arm and shoulder for an hour
between two mattresses. Three people voluntarily slept on the mattresses
for one night. Siftings from the straw were applied to the arm,
under all of which circumstances the rash quickly developed, showing
conclusively the relation of the straw to the disease.

Thirdly, siftings from the straw and mattresses which had been
thoroughly disinfected failed to produce the rash.

And fourthly, careful inspection of the siftings of the straw disclosed
living parasites, small mites, which when applied to the skin quickly
produced the characteristic eruption.

SANITATION

WHEN the thoughtful historian gets far enough away from the nineteenth
century to see it a